


Becoming the White Wolf

by GateKeeper2



Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: African Culture, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Gets a Hug, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Bucky Barnes-centric, Bucky learning, Culture Shock, Elders, Gen, Gods, Healing, Language Barrier, Nomad Steve Rogers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Redemption, Regret, Shamanism, Sibling Bonding, Siblings, Spirit Guides, Spirit World, Traditions, Wakanda, farmer Bucky, life with the water tribe, water tribe kids!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-04-30 13:44:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14498262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GateKeeper2/pseuds/GateKeeper2
Summary: Bucky Barnes learns to live in Wakanda and earns his title of the White Wolf.





	1. Culture Shock

Becoming the White Wolf

Bucky Barnes sat, meditating in his hut on the bank of a wide river he couldn't quite remember the name of. His hut was comfortable, dark and cool against the African heat, all over it was safe, for the first time in over seventy years he was actually safe. T’Challa and Shuri had assured him as much. There was a thump against the clay wall of the hut and Bucky cracked an eye open, the children were coming. He could hear them screaming and laughing before they poured into his hut after the pigskin ball they had been kicking all along the river’s edge. He grinned at their willing approach, they trusted him, their parents trusted him. It was more than he thought he deserved. “Molo ingcuka!” Exclaimed the children, they waited patiently for his reply, gathering around him. “Molowie?” Bucky asked with a crinkled brow, he hoped he was pronouncing things correctly, he was still guessing at the language. Xhosha was unlike any language he had been exposed to under Hydra or his time on the run, it had a complex series of clicks which were both beautiful and extremely difficult to master. Shuri had left him with a holo-list of phrases to practice, things that would get him through the day. She expected him to practice, telling him that she was, "Not going to program his head full of the language and it would be a healthful activity to learn." 

The children grinned widely and jumped in the air. He could not understand why, but the children had taken a liking to him. He still wore the markings of the children from earlier in the day, a series of yellow and blue lines across his cheeks and streaked through his beard and a red spot of ocher in the middle of his forehead. In the back of his mind he hoped that the substance did not stain, but in reality, he could not bring himself to care, this was his home now and if they wanted to use him as a canvas, it was nothing worse than what Steve subjected him to growing up. 

He bent down, smiling gently at the shy child, Nuru, who liked to show him shells. She loved shells, her own hair was braided with them and she liked to make music by way of a drilled shell, it always created the most haunting melody.  
A little boy who he had somehow not seen before now was staring at the gap where his arm should have been. Bucky held very still, not wanting to scare the new child and having no means to explain himself. 

The language barrier was frustrating but he would learn, he would have to. But for now, all he could do was pull the knot in his kikoi and expose what was left of his scarred shoulder. The children all moved close to see and Bucky felt embarrassed as their wide eyes fell on him.   
The boy reached out and traced the scarring with a slim finger, awe in his eyes. Bucky could not imagine what the boy could be in awe of, but the child took a step back from him and gave the Wakandan salute, arms crossed over his chest and a serious look on his young, painted face.  
“Ingkuca! Yibambe!” The boy shouted at the others, who all saluted with grins and crossed arms before charging out his open door, dust rising from their bare heels before disappearing among the other huts. 

Bucky stepped out after them, into the warm evening air that buzzed with excitement. From what he could gather from the elaborate dress of the adults and his own face being decorated, a festival or ceremony of sorts was going to take place.


	2. Initiation

Chapter 2: Initiation

Drums beat in the distance, a steady rhythm like the heartbeat of the land. Bucky could not imagine what they could be celebrating now, nor did he know if he was invited or obliged to participate. He leaned against his hut and watched the sunset ripping over the water in its stunning hues of scarlet, orange, gold and royal purple, the color of the Panther tribe, the royal family. For all he knew they were celebrating the sunset itself. Two canoes glided across the water, shattering the sunset and causing it to dance. The two fishing parties shared a shouted greeting and Bucky again wondered what happened that he would end up in a place like Wakanda, it was paradise on Earth to him and he would happily live here forever if nothing forced him away. He had only been housed in the water tribe for less than a week but he already felt a deep loyalty to Wakanda, he owed them his life and freedom and he would show them that he was worth their time in sheltering him. 

Decision made, Bucky eased himself off the hut and began to move towards the drum beats. There was no sign of the children who followed him everywhere out of curiosity, Bucky figured they were otherwise occupied with their parents. He passed flocks of geese and goats which were milling about without a guide, one of the bolder creatures butted him in the leg with its head, searching for treats. Bucky caught the billy by the horn and turned it from him, guiding it back to the herd the way he had seen the herdsmen do it. They were always kind to the goats, he would be too. “There you go, you need to stay safe with your family,” Bucky said, releasing the goat. The goats bleated at him and then their real keeper crested the hill, grinning and calling to him in Xhosa.  
Bucky internally panicked, there were too many words and he could barely process what half of them meant, but he smiled back and waved his one arm, feeling entirely inadequate at communicating. How was he going to figure this all out? Maybe if he begged Shuri, told her it just wasn't possible.. She would laugh at him and he knew it. Then she would send him back out to learn and interact.

“Uthabatha umhlambi kakuhle.” The man continued, walking up to him and patting his shoulder comfortingly. His hair was greying and hung in long, tight braids around his face. His body was nearly covered in elaborate beadwork, crystals, and shells. Bucky wondered who the man was, he had to be of importance to the tribe with all the decorations he bore. Dozens of half-inch-long scars stood up in relief across his face and arms, Bucky wondered what happened to cause them.  
“Yiza, simele siqhubele umkhosi.” The man said. Bucky could not respond, he simply did not know how. He stuttered, trying to rack his mind for an answer that wouldn't sound stupid. The man waited, a mixture of amusement and pity on his face before he gently took Bucky's wrist and tugged him to follow, “Ceremony.” The man said Bucky's eyes widened at the man’s purring English, he had been afraid he was going to have to keep bumbling around, positively murdering the language and breaking cultural rules until he got somewhere with the language. “Ceremony?” Bucky asked. “Maize harvest, and your initiation. Come, you will be no stranger to us soon. You will be reborn a Wakandan, Bast has deemed it so.” Said the man, beginning to walk. Bucky followed quickly, head boiling over with questions since he now had someone to ask. 

The drum beats got louder the closer they got, Bucky could see the people of the river tribe, moving and singing in the dimming light. Torches were lit and an elder in a bright blue suit and Vibranium lip plate was chanting,“Ukuxuba nokuzalwa kwakhona.” into the waters. A patch of sand was moved away from its resting place and lay in piles to the side. Bucky looked curiously at this, the patch was just long enough for a body, this he knew instinctively.

“What's that?” Bucky asked his guide, motioning towards the sand. The man glanced at it, “Rebirthing pit.” He said, as though it were obvious. “What the..” Bucky began, but he was cut off when the drums and his own heart started to pound at double time and his eyes flashed among the sea of painted faces, finding the children, they had to know something.   
The drums reached a height and stopped suddenly, leaving his ears ringing in their absence. The elder stood, as though waiting for him to approach, his beaded guide walked around him and untied the blue kikoi from around his neck and shoulder, handing it to the serious child he had met earlier in the day. He appeared to be the child or assistant to the chief of the river tribe. Two men stepped forward, wearing bronzed chest plates and wielding spears. Bucky sucked in a breath in anticipation. Was he supposed to fight these armed Wakandan warriors? Down an arm and wearing what was essentially a dress? He had forgotten the name of the clothing for the moment. 

His guide stepped back, the soldiers stepped forward and handed off their spears, he felt slightly better without them around. The soldiers moved to either side of him and they all began walking towards the water. A shaman, wrapped in a cloak of animal skin, followed. They entered the water, which was quickly losing its warmth to the night. The drums had started again with fervor, filled the air. “Yibambe ingkuca.” Said the shaman when they were standing, heart deep in the water, the slow stream tickled past them. The shaman placed a hand on his head and produced from within his clothing, a small gord with a wooden stopper. He opened the vessel and Bucky's eyes widened, mouth agape, the contents were glowing a bright blue. This the shaman dipped his finger in and marked across Bucky's head and scarred shoulder with the Wakandan script. Bucky looked down and could see in his reflection the markings shimmering on his forehead and glowing from his side. It was then that he realized what this was, he had seen it before. Vibranium! 

People on the shore began to chant and sing but before he could again acknowledge the shaman who was likewise chanting, he was thrust underwater by the pair of warriors who had escorted him into the water. He fought for a moment, heart pounding in his chest and the sounds of the icy river he should have died in back in 45’ flooding his mind before he forced himself to hold still. To lay, at their mercy under the water. Sure enough, just as his enhanced lungs started to cry for air, the warriors lifted him from the water. This was repeated three more times before the shaman dipped his head and the warriors who kept him floating, supported in the water, moved towards the shore, towing Bucky between them. When they arrived, the congregation pressed forward, clapping and singing, Bucky turned his head, his shoulder was still glowing with raw Vibranium infused oil as he was walked towards the pit, the rebirthing place as his guide called it. He lay down in the sand at their coaxing and several members of the tribe made to cover him with sand. He felt its weight, heavy and comfortable settle over him, covering him in his entirety before he found himself transported to another world.


	3. An unexpected encounter

He was in Brooklyn, in his and Steve's old apartment. He looked around, taking in the familiar setting with a newfound clarity. The tiny room was plastered with paintings, a direct result of Steve's many illnesses and Bucky's own attempt to keep him still and not getting punched while his own lungs were trying to kill him. He heard a gasp from behind him and spun around, bare feet rubbing on the rough wooden floor.

“Bucky?” Came a sweet voice, one that he thought he would never hear again.  
“Becca?” Bucky asked, turning full around and kneeling to the floor in shock.  
“Bucky!” The young girl exclaimed before running and leaping into his one-armed hug.  
Bucky pulled her close, never did he dream that he would see her again, much less hold his dear sister to his chest which was swelling with mixed love and confusion. “Why are you wearing a dress Bucky?” Becca asked. Bucky just smiled and dipped his head and kissed away the tears on top of her soft, dark hair. He was crying, he realized belatedly. He wanted to stay with her, just locked together in a hug nearly seventy years past due, but something was happening, he could feel it. A pulling at his fragile mind, a beckoning call. 

“No, no! Don't take me back, I'm not going back!” Bucky shouted into the void, he looked up and saw, not the familiar roof of Steve's apartment, but what looked like an entire universe condensed into a swirling pool of water and light. It made him dizzy to look at it.  
“You have to go back Bucky, people still need you, you can't rest yet,” Becca explained with regretful blue eyes. “No, I'm tired, Becca. I'm done fighting, please let me stay!” Bucky implored, resisting the urge back to the world. He was so tired...  
“And when has my brother ever turned away from a fight? Steve still needs you Bucky, the world still needs you.” Becca urged, her voice was changing, Bucky realized, becoming deeper and more purring. He was losing her, he realized, moments before he was yanked back to reality. Becca and the past dissolved away like they had for the last seventy years and Bucky shot upright, into the wide-eyed worry and steadying arms of none other than Steve Rogers.  
“Buck! Are you okay? You're ok, you're ok..”

Bucky was gasping for breath and shaking, trying to control himself. When his vision cleared and he was sure he was back in his own fragile mind, Bucky realized that the arm supporting him was not that of his sister, but of a man as familiar as a brother.  
“Steve?” Bucky asked in shock, where had Steve come from?  
“You are of strong mind Ingkuca, we almost could not pull you back from the Djali.” The shaman explained, he was leaning over them.  
“Take me back, please. My sister is in there.” Bucky all but begged. The shaman looked at him with his wise eyes and nodded.   
“That was a Griot, a spiritual guide, and keeper of much knowledge. They often take the form of a deceased family member in order to guide you.”   
Deceased? Bucky sighed, feeling as tired as ever. Of course she was, that was just his fate, to be trapped in a bizarre future. “So she wasn't really there?” Bucky asked it had felt so good, so real to be with Becca again. “No, the Griot took on her form, her existence. She herself is in the spiritual plane, which is the domain of Bast. The living are not allowed to enter into it.” Explained the shaman.  
Bucky took a deep breath and looked at Steve crouched down beside him, it would be okay.

“Thank you for letting me see her, I had almost forgotten her face.” Bucky directed to the shaman who nodded. It was then that Bucky noticed that something was unusual, all was quiet around him, the drummers, the warriors, and the tribe had dispersed, and the shaman was wearing different robes.  
He looked between Steve and the shaman with uncertainty, “How long was I gone?” He didn't care really, he was beyond used to indeterminate amounts of time passing without his knowledge.  
“Two days Ingkuca, you resisted your return for two days. Princess Shuri scanned your brain and saw no additional damage done so you were left to wait for your rebirth.” The shaman explained before turning to Steve, “ Thank you for coming, Nomad of justice, we knew that the White Wolf would seek after a familiar face upon his return.”  
“Of course, but he is fine, correct?” Steve asked, slightly thrown by the names they had been given.  
“As well as he was before the ceremony. Come, Wolf, Nomad, we must return home, the fishermen seek the clear shore.”  
Bucky pulled himself up with Steve's help and they began their walk back to Bucky's hut.


End file.
